Coastal Route in September from Porto to ?

[ritaj]

Now that we are ancianos (78) and need to use pack transport and walk shorter stages than we did years ago on the Camino from Le Puy to Santiago, we have decided to walk the Camino Portugues in September. We would like to start in Porto, walk to the coast, then up to Vila do Conde, and then inland to Rates. Does anyone know if there is any place to stay between Porto and Vila do Conde to break up our first day's walk? Is there a place in Labruge? We need to be able to make a reservation and to have the transporte de mochilas (Tuitrans) agree to deliver there. All is much more complicated than in the past! We'd love suggestions.
ritaj

 

[Marc S.]

According to my Brierley guide there is no accomodation whatsoever between Porto and Villa do Conde. As he tends to list accomodation options rather thoroughly, I am afraid this is bad news & I hope somebody else will prove me wrong. However, if you take the metro from Porto to Matosinhos and walk from there, it will cut your first stage to Villa do Conde to 22 km. After that, it should be possible to plan 15 km. stages for the rest of your camino. Hope it all works out !

 

[Former member 22438]

Now that we are ancianos (78) and need to use pack transport and walk shorter stages than we did years ago on the Camino from Le Puy to Santiago, we have decided to walk the Camino Portugues in September. We would like to start in Porto, walk to the coast, then up to Vila do Conde, and then inland to Rates. Does anyone know if there is any place to stay between Porto and Vila do Conde to break up our first day's walk? Is there a place in Labruge? We need to be able to make a reservation and to have the transporte de mochilas (Tuitrans) agree to deliver there. All is much more complicated than in the past! We'd love suggestions.
ritaj

In Vila Châ they rent rooms .
Alternative. Walk the first day to Matosinhos. 10 kms from the Sé Cathedral-we stayed in an excellent hostal, pensāo Central allmost on the route- and walked to Vila do Conde next day. There is a hostal ,Bellamar that looks good.

Bom caminho

 

[cj2003]

This will almost be the same answer as Alberthino just gave - have a look at this post where I've listed every accomodation on the camino portuguese monacal, and the stretch you mention is also covered it contains web links and phone numbers as well...

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...-route-portugues-route-monacal-coastal.35534/

 

[ritaj]

Thank you!! Would the walk to Matosinhos be on the coastal route or a different route -- and if so, would it avoid the busy roads everyone says to avoid by walking the coastal route? I'm not seeing it on the maps I've printed out or looked at on-line. And where is Vila Cha? I had not heard of that. Gads, I love this forum!

 

[Former member 22438]

Thank you!! Would the walk to Matosinhos be on the coastal route or a different route -- and if so, would it avoid the busy roads everyone says to avoid by walking the coastal route? I'm not seeing it on the maps I've printed out or looked at on-line. And where is Vila Cha? I had not heard of that. Gads, I love this forum!

It is the walk from Porto center (from the Cathedral ) alongside the Douro -at your left side-river till you reach the ocean .then follow the ocean at the left side untill you reach Matosinhos. A 10 kms and beautifull walk. Highly recommended! And yes you avoid this busy and dangerous infrastructure north of Porto.

Alternative is take the metro from Trindade station to stop Mercado in Matosinhos. There is the big bridge over the Leixões harbour . Or bus # 500 oposite the beautiful São Bento railway station to Matosinhos following the river Douro and starts your 20 kms walk from there to Vila Châ or Vila do Conde
Matosinhos is a fairly big urban area at the north west side of Porto with the Leixões harbour .
Vila Châ is a small fishermen village ,about 5 kms south of Vila do Conde at the ocean side.
Bom caminho.

 

[Former member 22438]

Thank you!! Would the walk to Matosinhos be on the coastal route or a different route -- and if so, would it avoid the busy roads everyone says to avoid by walking the coastal route? I'm not seeing it on the maps I've printed out or looked at on-line. And where is Vila Cha? I had not heard of that. Gads, I love this forum!

An alternative is take the metro from Trindade station in Porto to forum Maia. You then are just at the end of the northern infrastructure and start to walk into the countryside to Vairáo -where is a nice albergue in a former monastry -and up to Vilarinho and São Pedro de Rates.

Have you allready thought of staying at Casa Fernanda between Barcelos and Ponte de Lima ? The best place to stay at the caminho from Porto to Santiago.
If not..have a look at this forum . If yes be sure to make your reservation on before hand tel.+ 351 914 589 521
Another great place just outside Redondela is o refuxio de la Jerézana in Cessantes. Far better than the Redondela municipal albergue.

 

[Former member 22438]

https://www.google.nl/maps/@41.1844362,-8.6962775,11z?hl=nl

https://www.google.nl/maps/place/Vi...!1s0xd24423a4e8f3445:0x2b4f975e5b864e00?hl=nl

Maps with Matosinhos and Vila Châ

Bom caminho

 

[annakappa]

According to my Brierley guide there is no accomodation whatsoever between Porto and Villa do Conde. As he tends to list accomodation options rather thoroughly, I am afraid this is bad news & I hope somebody else will prove me wrong. However, if you take the metro from Porto to Matosinhos and walk from there, it will cut your first stage to Villa do Conde to 22 km. After that, it should be possible to plan 15 km. stages for the rest of your camino. Hope it all works out !

There is plenty of accommodation between Porto and Vila do Conde. After all, you are walking along the coast, passing many small villages. Just give a look on googlearth! Labruge exists! It's just slightly inland.
We did most of our searching on the Internet, Googlearth and tips from the Forum. We have never bought a guide book, least if all Brierley's! However, the day before leaving for Porto, while we were in Santiago, we happened upon a copy that had been discarded, so we asked if we could have. So we used it, together with our other information, printed out on several sheets of paper, downloaded from Internet.
It was pretty awful! Adriaan spent his time cursing on the information!
Sorry, but how can it be possible that along 22 Kms of popular coastline, there is no where to stay.??? Of course there is, and plenty!
What is more to the point, is that there are no Pilgrim Albergues along that stretch!

 

[ritaj]

Thank you annakappa. In the past we always stayed in pilgrim albergues but now, with pack transport for Wes, we have to stay in "approved" places for pack drop-off. So we need to plan ahead (as we never did before) to make sure Tuitrans will deliver to the place, and to make reservations so we can be sure we will be there the next day (no last minute rearrangements of place or town). It's a very different feeling for this Camino, but as an older person once said to me when I was young and backpacking in Utah, "You can still do it, you just do it differently!" So now it's our turn. Interesting how so many people don't like the Brierley. We never used it on our other Caminos but I was checking it out and found it is quite pricy. I'm hoping to find a used copy from another pilgrim.

ritaj

 

[Marc S.]

There is plenty of accommodation between Porto and Vila do Conde. Sorry, but how can it be possible that along 22 Kms of popular coastline, there is no where to stay.??? Of course there is, and plenty! What is more to the point, is that there are no Pilgrim Albergues along that stretch!

Well if you say so.

But anyway the phone number for Cafe Tony in Vila Cha, which also rents rooms, is 229 283 634. I overlooked this in my original reaction, but my beloved Brierly does mention it in his guide and even gives the telephone number.

 

[Former member 22438]

Well if you say so.

But anyway the phone number for Cafe Tony in Vila Cha, which also rents rooms, is 229 283 634. I overlooked this in my original reaction, but my beloved Brierly does mention it in his guide and even gives the telephone number.

Exactly.. that's the one ! Thanks
We had the intention to go to Vila Châ but from Matosinhos it is an easy walk further to Vila do Conde so we passed it.
We ended up in front of the gate of the Arvore camping , popped in for a drink and heard they rented summerhouses for one night so stayed there and this was very comfortable.
This year we went back to Vila do Conde after finished our caminho and discovered hostal Bellamar just a couple of meters from the bridge. Go underneath the bridge to the other side of the road and you can't miss it.

Bom caminho

 

[annakappa]

I'm sure ritaj that as you go along, you will get help from each place of stay to the next. They will be able to help you choose your next destination and recommend which places accept the packs taken by Tuitrans. I wouldn't worry